Brett Callwood
Queen Bea Rules El Rey: Saturday was the last night of Bea Miller‘s Gauche tour, her first jaunt in four years. It concluded with two nights in Los Angeles at the El Rey, and we dropped by the second on Saturday night.
Miller has come a hell of a long way since she was a contestant on season two of The X-Factor in 2012 when she was just 13. Two albums and eight EPs followed over the 11 years, as her sound evolved into the gritty, lyrically sharp, hyper alt-pop that it is today.
Before Miller performed, her guitar player Ethan Tasch opened proceedings with a 15 minute set of his own. Tasch is a solo acoustic indie folk artist and while he said at the top that the aesthetic is slightly odd for this gig, screw it. “Bea Shmee,” he said with a chuckle. “This is my show.”
His songs, while more chill than what follows, are still infectious and compelling enough to appeal to a pop crowd. The opening “Hold Up” is a highlight, as it “Room.” By the time he ends with “Come Onn,” his array of skills have been fully exposed. Charismatic and witty, his 15 minute micro set was enough to tantalize and wet the appetite.
Isabel LaRosa (Brett Callwood)
Next up was Annapolis, MD star-in-the-making Isabel LaRosa alongside her guitar hero-older brother Thomas. LaRosa released the single “older” to coincide with this tour, and she played that in L.A. and a whole lot more besides.
LaRosa arrived on stage wearing some sort of helmet and a leather jumpsuit, like she’s straight out of a Fast and the Furious movie. Her alt-pop tunes are dripping with attitude and melody. She covered every inch of the stage and the crowd responds accordingly. It’s frightening that she’s only 19 and she’s already this good.
She covered Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” and it was good fun, but her own material is far more interesting.
Finally, and with Tasch back on the stage, Bea Miller bounded on to the sound of recent single “This Call is Coming From Inside the House,” and it was immediately apparent that she and her band were not here to fuck around. Her alt-pop sound has veered towards pop-punk — it always did but with experience has come more crunch.
Another 2023 single, “Cynical,” is equally punky. One of her oldies but goodies, “Rich Kids,” has similarly skater vibes, Avril Lavigne style, despite Miller describing the song as being from one her “cringy periods.”
2020’s “That B**ch” takes on the patriarchy (“Society is suckin’ on your dick, And since I got a pussy, I’m a b**ch, And since you are a dude, yeah, you can tell the truth, But as soon as I do, I’m a b**ch”).
“Fire and Gold” is another highlight – epic and intelligent. Singer-songwriter-rapper Sueco guests on “Yours” (the sing that the pair recorded together), and Miller ends the show, and indeed the tour, with a rendition of “I Wanna Know. That’s the NOTD song that Miller provided vocals for. In L.A., it was an electro-punk banger, and the perfect way to sign off.
Bea Miller’s career trajectory remains unknown. But if there’s any justice, listeners will be flocking to an artist who cares about her evolution and truly has something to say.
Queen Bea Rules El Rey: For more info, visit beamiller.com.
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